Kitchen Tip: Totally Awesome Pizza at Home

January 25, 2011

I don’t know a single person (besides Logan – because he’s Mr. Particular) that doesn’t enjoy biting into a big slice of pizza. Pizza seems like universal comfort food, yet it’s often tricky to make it just right at home.

With these five easy tips you can improve your homemade pizza making skills. In no time at all you’ll be whipping up your own delicious pizza at home faster than it would take to pick up a pizza for takeout.

5 Tips for Totally Awesome Pizza at Home

1. Use a HOT oven. I crank mine up to 550 degrees F (as hot as it goes).

2. Let the oven preheat for at least 35 minutes. You want it really, hot and evenly hot. Especially if you’re using a pizza stone, (see #3)

3. Don’t bother with a pizza pan, cook the pizza right on a hot baking stone. The hot, hot stone is essential for the crispy on the bottom crust without the whole crust being crunchy.

4. Use a pizza peel – or fake it! – to transfer the pizza to the stone. I don’t have a pizza peel, so I fake it.

First, I roll the crust out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper.

Then I transfer the parchment to a pizza pan (which I don’t use for the actual baking).

To get the pizza in the oven, slide the pizza (with the parchment) off of the pan and onto the baking stone.

5. Use Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day Master Boule dough recipe for your crust. This is the best pizza crust I’ve made, with Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe coming in at close second. Why?

With Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day you won’t have to wait 2 hours for the dough to rise before you can assemble your pizza. In fact, you’ll have the dough already ready in your refrigerator whenever the mood for pizza strikes.

Yes, we’ve done that too! Definitely fun in the summer when you don’t want to heat the house up. I follow the same basic rules and put my pizza stone in the grill.

I’ve been wanting to try pizza for a while. Any suggestions for someone who doesn’t have a pizza stone?

You can bake it on an inverted cookie sheet that has also been preheated, but you won’t get the same results. Another option would be to experiment with cooking it on the grill. A stone is definitely worth the investment. I have this one: Old Stone 4461 16-Inch Round Oven Pizza Stone. I use it for pizza, galette, crostata and breads.

Love the tips! Perfect for pizza night.

Homemade pizza is the best! Love these tips!

Good tips. I’d add-don’t overload the pizza with too many/much toppings. Also, be creative-take flavors/combinations that you love and adapt to the pizza. (see below, my spicy peanut chicken pizza).
I have to try to the AB5M recipe; I use a whole wheat dough now that works well, freezes well and cooks up great:

I LOVE your pizza photos! I almost ate my computer screen!

thanks for the tips! your crust looks great!

I enjoy making pizza each Sunday evening. My dough making process has been streamlined thanks to Alton Brown’s tutorial on letting the stand mixer do the kneading. I’ve developed my own recipe for an Italian style loaf, and make my pizza dough and a loaf of bread after the pizza, but your notes based on Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day have me inspired. I’ve printed out the recipe for the Master Boule and will give this a try.

You are right about the hot oven and stone as well as the water in the pan in the oven, but I was not using water on the loaves I baked each Sunday after the pizza.

I’m loving the recipe for the dough. Homemade pizza is the best and it’s one of the things that is always fun to make with kids.

Great post! Thanks for the ideas. Question: Do you put the parchment paper in to the 550 degree oven? That worries me about it burning. If you do, what kind do you use because mine is not recommended for temperatures that high.

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Hello! I'm Katie, author of GoodLife Eats Etc. where I share what I find in my life. A mix of great recipes, family memories, adventures, good reads, and anything else that I love is what you will discover here.